IITORS OVERVIEW
When the Apocalyptic Gets Personal
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ne of my "favorite" interpretations of apocalyptic prophecy,
delivered (believe it or not) at the United States Capitol
before a packed house on February 22, 1857, purported to
show from the book of Daniel the exact day, even the hour, of the
signing of the United States Declaration of Independence!—See Paul
Boyer,
When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern
American Culture
(Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press, 1992), pp. 84, 85.
Another classic, more recently, claimed that the 70-week prophecy
of Daniel 9:24-27 was partially fulfilled in the signing of the Israeli
PLO—peace accord in 1993! One "favorite" apocalyptic prognostication
even predicted that in 1994 an asteroid would wipe out one-third of the
world's population.
What is it about apocalyptic prophecy that can bring out such
gullibility, even naiveté, among Christians? It is bad enough that the
good folk who make these predictions look foolish after the fact, but,
sadly, their repeated failures reflect negatively on all Christianity.
After all, those who already have doubts about the Christian faith
certainly will have more doubt when, time and again, these predic-
tions, based on the same Book that reveals the salvation offered the
world by Christ's death, fail to transpire when and as proclaimed.
This is too bad, because there is so much in apocalyptic prophecy
that should cause people to believe, not to doubt. I know, because of
what the apocalyptic prophecies have done for me, personally. More
than twenty years ago, having just had a powerful conversion
experi-
ence,
I was exposed to some apocalyptic prophecies of Daniel and
Revelation, prophecies that immediately helped ground my experience
in the Bible. In other words, however real and intense my conversion
experience, it was still just that, an
experience,
and experience needs to
be balanced, interpreted, and verified by the Word of God. And for me,
these apocalyptic prophecies added that needed ballast in ways that
strengthened my faith back then and that, in fact, continue to strengthen
it today. No doubt, many others could testify to the same.
Thus, this quarter, Dr. Angel Rodriguez, of the Biblical Research
Institute at the General Conference, covers some of the major apocalyp-
tic prophecies that, if properly understood, will become personal for
each of us, as well. These prophecies will build our trust in God's
Word; will teach us more about "the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"
(Rom. 3:24); and will make us more sure, more confident, and more
hopeful of the future because of what Christ—as revealed in these
prophecies—has done for us in the past.
Indeed, this is the purpose of the apocalyptic prophecies, not to tell
us about asteroids or peace accords but to reveal Jesus, and when we
better understand Jesus—what He has done, is doing, and will do for
us—that is the moment when the apocalyptic prophecies become per-
sonal, the way they always have been meant to be.
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